A mixture of ingredients
The classic recipe was prepared in spring, when freshly grown vegetables fill the markets with flavour and colour. Nowadays, frozen vegetables and greenhouses mean that asparagus can be bought in the middle of winter and grenadines in spring.

 

The combination of ingredients used in a menestra depends on personal taste and availability of ingredients. Classic recipes include tender peas, beans, asparagus, carrots, green beans and sometimes a lettuce heart which, like French runner beans, adds a hint of subtlety to the dish.

 

A little more flavour
A menestra can be enriched with a little diced ham or spring lamb which is excellent in springtime. Given that the meat's cooking time is longer than that of the vegetables, the lamb is best fried to golden with a little chopped onion, wine and stock until tender and the vegetables added one by one and quickly tossed until impregnated with the flavours of the meat.

 

The vegetables used should be chosen for their contrasting textures: cauliflower, broccoli or asparagus stems, battered and fried and added to the hot menestra just before serving so that they remain crispy.

 

Crispy dried ham slices can also be added, as well as bacon powder to give the vegetable stew a unique aroma. For the powder cook some bacon slices in a non-stick pan until crunchy. Then place them between two sheets of paper and reduce them to powder with a roller, then sprinkle the powder on the menestra before serving. The aroma of the bacon flavours the vegetables, while the fat of the bacon is left in the pan.

 

If you are using frozen vegetables remember to cook them before the fresh ones. When in season, new potatoes, flash fried in oil before serving, will add a delicious flavour to the dish.

 

To warm up the dish it is best to use a microwave to prevent the texture of the vegetables from being overcooked: they should always be cooked but never to the point of falling apart.